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<h1>
    BRIAN ENO
</h1>

<div class="quote">
    "Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify them. Can I show you my pubic area?"<br />

    <img alt="Brian Eno, experimenting with exotic sounds" src="images/eno.png" />
</div>

<div class="members">
    <a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/games/create.html">South Park Create-A-Character</a>
</div>

<p class="albumList">
  <a href="#pussyfooting">(No Pussyfooting)</a><br />
  <a href="#jets">Here Come The Warm Jets</a><br />
  <a href="#mountain">Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)</a><br />
  <a href="#world">Another Green World</a><br />
  <a href="#star">Evening Star</a><br />
  <a href="#science">Before And After Science</a><br />
  <a href="#airports">Ambient 1: Music For Airports</a><br />
  <a href="#mirror">Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror</a><br />
  <a href="#ghosts">My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts</a><br />
  <a href="#land">Ambient 4: On Land</a><br />
  <a href="#soundtracks">Apollo - Atmospheres &amp; Soundtracks</a><br />
</p>

<p>For those who regard Ben Arion only as a producer, along with his partner Daniel Lanois, well... you should give his records a listen. Surprisingly, he has done <em>great</em> stuff in his career as a musician. He actually didn't start as a solo artist. He was member of Roxy Music, responsible for all the synthesizer work, but then he quit the band and went to hunt out for his own success. And guess what? He didn't succeed only as an album-maker. He was responsible for quite a lot of actual <em>revolutions</em> in the world of music. Firstly, Ben O'Rian has always been an absolute master of the synthesizer. He learned to tame the computers in such a way to make them an integral part of music, not just an embellishment - and we all know this points a finger towards the appearing of "electronica". It's not that I'm saying he <em>created</em> the electronica movement, but he surely played a key role in its development towards what it is now, for better or for worse.</p>

<p>Secondly, he learned to tame the <em>studio</em>, to transform it from a mere place where you record music, into an instrument. Of course we all know people like George Martin and bands like Queen were already expanding the possibilities of the studio, but Eno was just as important as them, if not more. This helped him consolidate his status as a great producer, extracting unique sounds out of the studio.</p>

<p>Thirdly, Brain One was arguably the <em>father</em> of Ambient music. Now this is where controversy comes: what the fuck <em>is</em> Ambient, anyway? Actually, it's not difficult to understand it. Ambient music does not rely in "traditional" music elements like melody, chord sequences and rhythm. Ambient music serves to create a <em>mood</em> through sound. Eno himself says the idea of Ambient is to make music become <em>part of the environment</em>, rather than the centre of attention. So, Ambient does not pull your attention towards it, but settles an actual image, an atmosphere through monotonous sounds and setups. His work <strong>Another Green World</strong>, one of the first things that gave an idea of "ambient", used such tricks to create mental images. They were short snippets that created something of a "journey" when taken together. Later on, the concept of ambient evolved into the series of <strong>Ambient 1, 2, 3, etc</strong> albums, that are <em>solely</em> made of such sounds and synthesizer noises, and culminated in the symbolic <strong>Thursday Afternoon</strong>. By such point, Ambient music wasn't supposed just to create an image: the music was flexible enough to serve any purpose. It could either work for background for an artistic exhibition (<strong>The Shutov Assembly</strong>), for meditation or other crap, and there are several suggestions for what these ambient works are supposed to mean. I wouldn't be able to express what is <em>my</em> idea, because every time I listen to an ambient album, I get a different impression. But I tell you this: <em>Never</em> say that an ambient album is "crap" just because it <em>is</em> ambient, or say things like "why should I pay for something I could do at home myself" and other shit. It takes <em>talent</em> to create an exact mood solely through <em>sound</em>. There probably are good <em>and</em> bad ambient albums, but ambient isn't "crap" by itself. It's the same thing as saying Prog rock, or Punk rock, or Jazz, or Reggae is crap by definition. That's an extremely foolish thing to say.</p>

<p>But let us not forget that CSJ Bofop wasn't just an Ambient composer. He was a heck of a songwriter, too! His seventies releases balanced through experimental (like his releases with Robert Fripp) and pop (<strong>Before And After Science</strong>), and sometimes combined the two (<strong>Another Green World</strong>). In the eighties, he worked in Ambient music and in producing for U2 and Talking Heads and some others, and in the nineties, he went other ways. So, let's go ahead with the reviewing the magnificent music of... what's his name, again?</p>

<p><a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail your ideas</a>!</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="pussyfooting"><em>Fripp &amp; Eno:</em> (No Pussyfooting) (1973)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <em>Err... Nothing much to say here.</em>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>The Heavenly Music Corporation</li>
  <li>Swastika Girls</li>
</ol>

<p>The first record Eno released after leaving Roxy Music was this collaboration with Robert Fripp, from King Crimson, and this was not only the beginning of a long and lasting partnership between then, but also the very creation of a technological invention that Fripp would adopt, continuously improve and work upon in the following years. The basic idea is simple, but reasonably tricky. Eno took two reel-to-reel machines and set them so that the sounds would be recorded by the first one, and the tape would travel all the way to the second and be played back, and so recorded again by the first machine. That was a way in which you could simulate <em>slowly</em> decaying loops, but in real time. In short, an experimental weirdo's ultimate desire. And wasn't that the case of Eno and Fripp? So, yes, they got together to record some stuff, and the results were so overwhelming that the gadget was dubbed "Frippertronics", and this album was released.</p>

<p>Now, you'd have to try to imagine what <em>kind</em> of music these two guys would produce with such a gadget. Someone would lay down a sonic foundation, and let the Frippertronics repeat them on and on ad infinitum. Fripp would use that "bed" to play his guitar in his usual, strained guitar sound, and Eno would eventually feed parts of his solo into the machine, as well as electronically process the ensuing sounds. What you hear on the album are the results of real time performances, without edits or overdubs. It's something of a <em>glimpse</em> of the future of ambient music, though it's still far from it. It's an interesting listen, without a doubt, but is it <em>enjoyable</em>?</p>

<p>Well, although these are VERY experimental pieces, produced almost solely with the purpose of <em>being</em> experimental, there's nothing stopping you from enjoying them. The main worry of the guys was with creating music, not noise - only using a different and exciting (at least for <em>them</em>) method. It's undoubtedly a revolutionary, pioneering album, but that's not the only good thing about the record. The two songs sound very different from each other, even though there's little difference in terms of techniques and instrumentation; the only big one is that 'Swastika Girls' features a synthesizer loop, while 'The Heavenly Music Corporation' is <em>entirely</em> guitar based. The latter starts off with a contantly buzzing, monotonous drone that stays there for a long while, and Fripp's guitar phrases slowly start to create dozens and dozens of different layers piled on each other. Fripp describing the sensation of performing the piece as that of "steering a battleship", and I can see more or less why. Fripp eventually has to play with what he already played, and it's Eno who controls what is looped and what isn't, and what is erased from the loop. There are moments in which Fripp just keeps adding small phrases to those waves of sound, playing with the volume pedal, and others when he solos all over the soundscape. In both cases, the result is very interesting and sometimes <em>very</em> pleasant. On the second track, the synthesizer makes its presence felt, though Fripp still adds beautiful guitar embellishments, as well as his distinctive soloing more or less halfway through. The result is more serene than on side one, but the important thing is how the tracks complete each other. There's no "better" song here, though I find side one slightly more interesting overall.</p>

<p>I do like the album, though again, it's not something I'm constantly listening, but it creates a good effect. And even if I didn't like it much, I have to give its due credits. The album must have been a blast back then. I mean, this kind of music wasn't just "novel": it was really impressive. And it still is today, even with all the onslaught of technology. It stood the test of time pretty well, as of today, and this probably has to do with the <em>musical</em> aspirations of the duo. If this were a simple "experiment", it would probably quite dated. But it isn't. It's a good album.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's not a constant thrill, but it sure has its very entertaining moments.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>11/15</strong></big> - There <em>is</em> quite a bit of beauty in it.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>14/15</strong></big> - Can't go wrong here.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Fripp sure does know how to play this stuff.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>11/15</strong></big> - Long, samey songs? You bet.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/12.png" alt="12" />
</p>

<p>Comments? Raves? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a>!</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="jets" class="best">Here Come The Warm Jets (1973)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Needles In The Camel's Eyes <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Baby's On Fire ++</span></li>
  <li>Cindy Tells Me <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Driving Me Backwards ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">On Some Faraway Beach ++</span></li>
  <li>Blank Frank <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Dead Finks Don't Talk <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Some Of Them Are Old ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Here Come The Warm Jets ++</span></li>
</ol>

<p>It's important to remember, here, that Brian Eno <em>was</em> a member of Roxy Music before he recorded this album, so <em>that</em> helps explain why this record sounds like <em>this</em>, and not some longwinded, experimental ambient record with synthesizer drones and a guitar noodling on top of it. In fact, it would take Eno a couple of years to start making records like that, and for now, he was just your usual weird, quirky experimental pop musician with a penchant for all sorts of taboos, as well as talent and creativity in spades. And this album is just like the results of Eno's talent and creativity put in a pot, heated to the boiling point and then shaken until the whole thing exploded and made a big mess on the walls and floor of your kitchen, not to mention refrigerator, microwave oven and whatever else you have in there, so that when faced with such a big, humongous mess, you can only say "man, that ROCKS!" in disbelief.</p>

<p>Of course, the advantage of the album is that you don't have to clean up the mess - you just leave it there until it dries and maybe starts to look a bit dated. But does it look/sound dated to me? Not really, I say! You see, the "experimental" things on the album don't steal the spotlight, at least not too often. Most of the time, you'll be left to a gapless stream of <em>incredibly entertaining</em> music, the kind of music that you can play loudly in your room and enjoy thoroughly, without ever being bored. It's surprisingly varied, extremely good-humoured and unpretentious, and filled with performances brimming with energy. You know, this is the real polar opposite of the works Eno is most well-known for, and that's so good that I can barely talk about it. There certainly are some songs and things about the album that some people might not like, but that's not my case: I'm entertained by literally everything here. Everything, really - there's not a drop of anything aywhere that annoys me. Some bits are slightly less entertaining than others, which is absolutely normal, but there's nothing here that I'd remove, if the record were mine. Nothing I'd <em>add</em>, either.</p>

<p>For starters, the sound of the album is mostly abrasive and loud, with guitars all the way up to the front of the mix. Sometimes it's harder rocking, sometimes it's mocking and flamboyant, and sometimes it's actually quite mellow and beautiful (and when it's beautiful, it's jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but let's get to that later), but mostly it's very intense. And Eno's lyrics are mostly nonsense - not as in "not making sense at all", but you just better not look for any sense or meaning in them. Right from the start, Eno was more worried with the sound of the words rather than with their meaning. And though he never strings together incoherent, random sequences of words, they sometimes reach the point where you just <em>can't</em> try to find a meaning to them - unless you're freaky. And if you DO find any meaning in them, Eno probably didn't mean it anyway. For example, 'Dead Finks Don't Talk' has been regarded as an attack on Bryan Ferry, of Roxy Music, but Eno always denied that. The only bit of lyrics that somewhat resonate in me is on the mostly instrumental 'On Some Faraway Beach', about dying "like a baby," but I suppose that's only because the music is so absolutely gorgeous. In this track, you'll get a glimpse of Eno's more minimalistic songwriting style, for the song is based entirely on a looping four chord sequence. The really <em>big</em> thing here is how he layers those dozens of piano lines, each one playing a different thing, and how they harmonise magnificently on the final result. They just keep on appearing, with other instruments joining in the mix slowly and forming something of a melody, until Eno's singing pops up at the end as if it were just another instrument. The finished product is one of the best ballads Eno <em>ever</em> recorded, and could easily be my pick for favourite song on the record.</p>

<p>However, there's no lack of competition for the "best song" slot. And I can only pick 'The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch',which even after all those listens, never fails to amuse me. The instrumental track is already goofy and entertaining enough on its own (not to mention catchy), though its not much more than an upbeat, groovy pop beat, but Eno's vocal delivery just defies explanations and descriptions: unexpected falsettos, odd stresses on syllabes and intonations, self-harmonising and goofiness aplenty. And all of that is countered by a more than appropriate synthesizer solo, which might give good memories to the fans of Eno's work on Roxy Music songs like 'Editions Of You'. See, it's just hard finding words to apply to songs like these. It's very unique in Eno's catalogue, but if you think about it, almost every song here is. With a bit of a stretch, that can be applied to the harder rocking songs in the album, like 'Needles In The Camel's Eyes', a fast, stomping tune with constant loud guitar chords. You could think of it roughly as a 'Waiting For The Man' with a guitar instead of the piano, but you know, 'Waiting For The Man' didn't have those awesome stop-and-go's, the freakishly simple guitar solo, or the subtle but effective synth arrangement near the end. It's a heck of a fun, catchy song. And 'Baby's On Fire' is that, and <em>also</em> just freaky. With only two chords, a constant rhythm and a deviously memorable melody, the song builds the foundation for a manic Robert Fripp solo. You know, he just keeps on playing, playing and playing, and <em>never</em> loses his focus! And this solo also serves to remind players the effect of <em>pauses</em> in a solo - especially the long ones that create contrast and increase tension. But Eno's performance on the song does true justice to all the manic tension and feeling it raises.</p>

<p>The other rocking song, 'Blank Frank', is weaker than those because it focuses less on having a catchy, intoxicating melody. Instead, it features a frantic, maniacal rhythm bashing at you from all sides, and a certain <em>sound</em> which is just different from everything you know. This is Eno, you know, so a cool sound is to be expected. And <em>do</em> expect that when you listen to a song like 'Driving Me Backwards', that breaks off from the whole rest of side 1 with a menacing, stomping piano line that's appropriately disorienting with a slightly dissonant bass note. The words Eno lays on top of that aren't really as scary as you might expect, because being "scary" isn't the goal of the song, I assume. But the build-up of weird, echoed noises and stuff keeps it awesome all the way through the end. The remaining songs don't push it so hard on the "weird" direction, but they still are all great, from the doo-wop-ish extra-fuzzed-out ballad 'Cindy Tells Me' to the hushed, hilarious 'Dead Finks Don't Talk', with double-tracked drums performing a groovy rhythm over the goofy vocals and spoken passages. The album end on a quite pleasant tone, with the rhythmless ballad 'Some Of Them Are Old', featuring a quite genuinely gorgeous main melody and a long instrumental middle break with a guitar solo Eno dubbed as the "snake guitar". It fades into an oddly atmospheric sound of slowed down wind chimes into the title track, that <em>didn't</em> get its title from the assumed "golden showers" thing Eno was so interested on at the time. The fact is that the fuzzy guitar sound that leads on the main melody was titled "warm jet guitar" on the track sheet, and so it remained. It's a beautiful song, similar to 'On Some Faraway Beach' in that the vocals only appear at the end, and the rest is the main melody being built. It's a wonderful way to wind up the album, and all of its uniqueness.</p>

<p>Granted, the album might not be as alien as I've been suggesting here, at least when compared with masterpieces by Captain Beefheart and such. But hell, it <em>is</em> an unique record which balances experimentation <em>and</em> enjoyability in fairly balanced measures. Just as it is an important record - though radically detached from what Brian would start doing a few years later - it's a must have for whomever is into 70's rock, glam and such. It's not exactly a peak for Eno, but it's by far his most genuinely exciting and fun album, in such an absurd way that it is my favourite Eno album. It's no disdain for his future, more laboured releases, mind you; I just love this thing.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>15/15</strong></big> - It deserves every single of those 15 points. Not a single letdown anywhere in sight.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>15/15</strong></big> - Extreme fun all the way through, in several different shapes and forms.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>15/15</strong></big> - You can't argue here, can you?<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>15/15</strong></big> - In the very few moments when there isn't any cool melody going on, there's a ton of awesome going on anyway.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>15/15</strong></big> - Stands up well all the way through.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/15.png" alt="15" />
</p>

<p>You have to make the choice between the Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch and <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">meeeeeeeeeeeee</a>........</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="mountain">Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Mother Whale Eyeless</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Burning Airlines Give You So Much More <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Back In Judy's Jungle <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>The Fat Lady Of Limburg</li>
  <li><span class="good">Mother Whale Eyeless ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">The Great Pretender ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Third Uncle ++</span></li>
  <li>Put A Straw Under Baby</li>
  <li>The True Wheel <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>China My China <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Taking Tiger Mountain ++</span></li>
</ol>

<p>Taking a bit easier on the abrasive rock here, Eno comes forward with ten songs containing about 50% catchy pop and 50% sonic experimentation. Eno already takes the spotlight away from his frenzied, "flamboyant" vocal performances and puts them on the actual music he and his band produces from normal, everyday instruments and also his own magic boxes and whatever he could put his hands on. As a result, you have here a fifty-minute album featuring really catchy pop melodies and stuff, as well as a wide, rich sonic pallette, which is just damn good, if you ask me. This is a heck of a worthy Eno album, which just falls behind mainly for the lack of the <em>WILD EXCITEMENT FACTOR</em> of his debut LP, and also because a few songs pale in comarison to the others. You know, <strong>Here Come The Warm Jets</strong> featured a few GORGEOUS ballads (exactly one) and a few BRILLIANT slow electro-dirges (also exactly one), and they were the only "slow" songs in the album. This album presents more songs that are that slow, but some of them fail to truly captivate me. Not because of the slowness itself, but because of the lack of truly captivating things about them. Eno was excellent in creating <em>EXACTLY</em> the kind of sound and mood and sonic textures he wished, but not even that can make 'The Fat Lady Of Limburgh' stand dozens of repeated listenings like 'On Some Faraway Beach'. The melodies and strategic sonic embellishments presented in the song are nifty, but the song just plods on and on, as if those elements weren't willing at all to show up, and the song is a bit too long, I'm afraid. Fortunately, in the context of the whole album, it falls in like a glove. Same happens with the creepy waltz 'Put A Straw Under Baby', which <em>is</em> catchy, but also kind of sluggish.</p>

<p>But just to show you that I don't have any problems with slow rhythms themselves, the title track is absolutely gorgeous, and sometimes I just wished it would go on forever. And I'm talking about 'On Some Faraway Beach' standards, though with less overdubs and a less hazy vision. It's just a wonderful, dreamy, night-like ballad with just a few vocals near the end. There are slightly military and Chinese overtones in the lyrics of the song, having in mind that they were inspired by a Maoist opera. The references to China are extended to a few other tracks, namely the obvious 'China My China' as well as 'Burning Airlines Give You So Much More', but the lyrics are still in the line of the previous album - only a bit less all-over-the-place and more focused, but still obscure. Say, the latter song is absolutely delightful, with a slow pop rhythm complemented by a simple but nifty vocal melody and a super clever guitar riff. It's as "pop structure" as it could possibly be, but just great. The latter isn't as simple, but the melodies and guitar work are every bit as brilliant, and it features a great, deranged guitar solo by Manzanera, with Eno providing percussion on a <em>typewriter</em>. One heck of a great idea, which gives one heck of a great <em>effect</em> in the finished product, which is also important.</p>

<p>The album as a whole can't be considered a concept album, though, but that hardly matters. The music is consistently intriguing and interesting, and this makes for an extra appealing experience on the best songs. I'm really, really fond of 'Mother Whale Eyeless', to the point where it's just the song that I like the most, here, though that doesn't mean much. Here, Eno assembles a set of simple, but beautiful melodies, coupled with strange effects on the synthesizer and odd, slightly eerie guitar tones. It's just beautiful, and it's not the only one. 'The True Wheel' is more upbeat, with even more prominent synthesizers, a series of really catchy vocal melodies and an ultra repetitive guitar solo that can cause seizures on people with weak nerves. But that's not my case, as you should be aware of by now. Another good one is 'Back In Judy's Jungle', a martial waltz - yes, and that's a completely apt description, even if I say so myself - filled with references to the military and such. It's catchy as hell, and its melodies are granted to stick to your brain for quite some time.</p>

<p>Finally, there are the more adventurous songs, which respectively close side one and open side two. The former, 'The Great Pretender', on surface isn't too different from 'Driving Me Backwards', but this one <em>does</em> have a goofy/scary mood of a B horror movie, and features a bunch of creepy, menacing low noises and evil-sounding synths. It's lots of fun, of course, and has another of those damn fine little melodies, aside from an "infinite ending" which is unfortunately cut short for the CD edition. I say, if there's one thing that should have been implemented on CDs, it's locked grooves. Oh, well, you can't always have everything. Instead, you have 'Third Uncle', which is Eno's faster, heaviest rock track so far, and probably ever. The machine gun rhythm is used cleverly, as lots of instruments and sounds start invading the mix as it speeds through its two chords. Funny that the bass notes at the be ginning remind the bass-echo trick of Pink Floyd's 'One Of These Days', but the rest of the song goes on a different, exciting direction.</p>

<p>Several songs here are real glories for Eno, and the whole album also is. It forms a solid basis for his experiments with <em>sound</em>, instead of with songs. For the casual listener, this album is going to be a must buy, since it marries <em>both</em> kinds of experimentation into a single, shiny package, which is as catchy and interesting as it can be. Me, as much as I like those kinds of marriages, prefer <strong>Here Come The Warm Jets</strong> and <strong>Another Green World</strong> over this one because, since each one pushes <em>hard</em> into one direction, to the point of absurdity, which to me is just great. This one keeps a 12, but a 12 that's <em>tangent</em> to a 13. Which isn't bad.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Fun, it certainly is, though not as insistently as <strong>Here Come The Warm Jets</strong>.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>12/15</strong></big> - It's all about the <em>sound</em>. Which still could be improved further.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>14/15</strong></big> - No complaints here, pretty much.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - It's all there, mainly.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>11/15</strong></big> - I'll be a bit harsh here. Something doesn't seem quite right at times.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/12.png" alt="12" />
</p>

<p>All your <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">mail</a> are belong to us.</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="world">Another Green World (1975)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Everything Merges With The Night</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Sky Saw <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Over Fire Island ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">St. Elmo's Fire ++</span></li>
  <li>In Dark Trees <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>The Big Ship <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>I'll Come Running <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Another Green World ++</span></li>
  <li>Sombre Reptiles</li>
  <li><span class="good">Little Fishes ++</span></li>
  <li>Golden Hours <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Becalmed <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Zawinul/Lava <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Everything Merges With The Night ++</span></li>
  <li>Spirits Drifting</li>
</ol>

<p>This is what you can call a <em>true</em> turning point. This isn't just a stylistic change - it's a change in Eno's goals as a musician (or non-musician, as he'd describe himself as often), though it's still only a small glimpse of the radical change that was yet to be displayed on <strong>Discreet Music</strong>. If you arrived here from the two previous albums, you'll have to make yourself ready for a <em>different</em> kind of music before listening to this, if you don't want to be shocked.</p>

<p>The trick is that the conventional definition of "song" is nearly abandoned. Of these fourteen tracks, only four of them could be defined as "songs" and inserted on albums like the previous two - though even their style is too incompatible with that stuff. The rhythms tend to be slower, the instrumentation more idiosyncratic, and the vocals more toned down. If the album were filled with ten songs like those, it would already be quite a departure. But what about the other ten tracks? That's where the trick lies. Only one of them ('Sky Saw') features vocals, and they are so vague and muffled, that they can be barely treated as "vocals" as we understand them. With that out of our way, we can say they're all instrumentals. They're pretty short, and they aren't that kind of instrumental "filler" we can find on some other albums out there: each one is a world in its own right, with sounds that match their titles right down to the bone. To use an old clich&eacute;, they're your "sonic paintings", but you can take that very literally. When there's a melody, it's only a sketch of a melody; when there's a riff, it's only a blur; but there's always a certain atmosphere that engulfs you completely. And they never stay on for too long - they're short, so they change quickly, forming something of a bigger whole.</p>

<p>Mind that, if you know ambient music enough, you <em>can't</em> call this "ambient" music. That concept wasn't still formed on Eno's mind by that time, and the idea of "aural" music that you're not supposed to actively listen to isn't present. This is music that you can listen and focus all your energies on, because it's actively evocative and imaginative. The arrangements are always rich and the textures are always refined, and there's a really great band backing them up. You might recognise Fripp's guitar and John Cale's viola once you come upon them, and Phil Collins's drumming definitely makes its presence felt on the songs that feature them - they aren't many. See, several of the compositions here have arrangements that slowly evolve and develop as the songs go, which is another aspect that defies the essence of "stasis" in ambient music. I can name examples; and I'm supposed to. One of my favourites is 'Over Fire Island', that somehow gives me a real feeling of flying. It's based on a pumping drum pattern, over which the band lays adventurous bass lines and a recurring synth riff. It goes and becomes more complicated during its 90 second run, until it dissolves into odd wavering synth chords. The aforementioned 'Sky Saw' is based on a distorted, almost metallic bending guitar riff, and the music is way more aggressive and stronger than usual. It's more dissonant, too, opening space for the bass lines, viola scrapings and strange, strange vocals ("All the clouds turn to words / All the words float in sequence / No one knows what they mean / Everyone just ignores them"... Hmm! Some of the very few Eno lyrics that have a complete meaning say his words make no meaning at all! That's Eno for ya).</p>

<p>Those two songs are great, and make a pretty unusual opener for a pretty unusual album. And the examples keep coming:'In Dark Trees' uses a constant electronic drum pattern and other percussive synth sounds that make a dark, misty background for odd, creepy guitar notes and synth screeches. Cool! Another good one is 'The Big Ship', that follows it up, taking another electronic drum pattern, but one that makes a sort of "march", which is a dire contrast to the essentially slow, heavy guitar chords and little synth whistling melodies. It's a very simple eight chord progression, repeated all the way through, and it's as delightful as it can be. The final example is on side B, 'Zawinul/Lava', a much more "mysterious" sounding piece featuring a pair of piano lines, which already is an odd prediction of some of his future work. The lines come in from nowhere, and some vast chords and notes start to come in, leading the song to a vague, beautiful ending.</p>

<p>Other pieces are more static, like the title track, which incidentally is one of my favourites here. It's a quite short piece, which closes side A, but it could last for the entire side and I'd love it. It's essentially two chords, played by a beautiful mix of piano and a strange Fripp guitar tone. It fades in and flickers away, and I <em>swear</em> I'm honest when I say it could have been longer. As for longer, there's 'Sombre Reptiles', which is the only instrumental piece here that's based on a full, complete melody. Once again, the electronic drum pattern is used, and the fuzzy melody just lingers on, and steps away before it's too late. 'Little Fishes' has nifty ripply effects on a prepared piano and synths, giving the impression of fished quickly from one side to the other of a shallow pond as you approach. I also like 'Becalmed', which uses the same chord progression of 'The Big Ship', but on an entirely different setting, which soothing synth chords and sparse piano. The closing track, 'Spirits Drifting', uses very eerie, slightly dissonant chords with a very eerie synth tone. I have to say, it's a pretty unexpected ending for the album, and not one I honestly appreciate. Still, the effect is impressive.</p>

<p>Describing each one separately, like that, might not mean much, and the whole thing might look less impressive than it is. Don't let that fool you, really. These songs are that kind of thing that you'll only fully understand once you listen to it. As for the other four tracks, they have vocals and stuff, and three of them are ballads. Only 'St. Elmo's Fire' is fast and snappy, and it's one of the most gloriously radiant songs I know. True to its title, it sparkles with electricity and energy, propelled by the jumping pianos and other synth effects, Eno's smooth delivery and Fripp's brilliant guitar solo that puts every other "shred" guitarist in his pocket. Yes, it's a magnificent song. The others aren't at all far behind it. Like I said, they are ballads, and are all good. 'I'll Come Running' is the most "grandiose" of them, with a grand arrangement with pianos and guitars and choirs on the chorus. It kind of dampens the melody a little, but it's no big harm. The other two, in their "purer" arrangements, become better. 'Golden Hours', in its simple pulsating synth rhythm, delivers a glorious melody and some tasteful solos by Fripp and Cale, and 'Everything Merges With The Night' is one of my favourite Eno songs ever. Its simplicity and beauty are stunning, and the acoustic guitar, the processed guitar and the piano are somehow <em>perfect</em> all the way through.</p>

<p>It's true that a big reason for the album's achievement is the refined production, but it's not quite accurate to hold this album as a masterpiece of studio production only. It's also impressive in terms of composition and performance, even though the skills displayed here are rather simple. But isn't simplicity quite hard to master, too? Well, I say it is. At least, it can be, and I believe it is this album's case. Check it out, eventually, and make sure to listen to it more than once - not in a row.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>14/15</strong></big> - It's not brilliant all the way through, but do you think that bothers me?<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>14/15</strong></big> - Extremely evocative, that it is pretty much all the way through.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>15/15</strong></big> - Hmm... Does anyone have arguments against that 15?<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>14/15</strong></big> - Is there anything lacking here? I don't think so.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>14/15</strong></big> - It's not perfect. Not that it needed to be.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/14.png" alt="14" />
</p>

<p>I'll come running to read your <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">mail</a>.</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="music">Discreet Music (1975)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Discreet Music</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Discreet Music</li>
  <li>Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel: Fullness Of Wind</li>
  <li>Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel: French Catalogues</li>
  <li>Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel: Brutal Ardour</li>
</ol>

<p>Many great, revolutionary ideas come up by accident, like the velcrum and the microwave oven. However, accidents also yield awful pieces of SHIT some people dare to call great ideas. Fortunately, that's not the case of <strong>Discreet Music</strong>. This album is a clear indication to Eno's future works with Ambient music, as much as <strong>Another Green World</strong>. But there's an important distinction to be made here, because <strong>Discreet Music</strong> doesn't work on the "musical" field of the business. And that's easy to see.</p>

<p>The main experiment of the album is with <em>algorithmic</em> music, and what you have here are two different experiments based on the same idea. The accident in question left Eno bedridden on an hospital, and in once occasion, while listening to harp music with the volume turned <em>too</em> low, he realised the potential of perceiving music as part of the enviroinment - an idea already hinted at by the likes of Erik Satie, whom Eno admired. But that idea doesn't affect simply the listening of the music, but also the process of its creation. Eno consciously tried to keep him as removed as possible from the act of producing the music: in both sides of the record, there's already a defined "source"of music, but the development happens through algorithmic processing of the music. On side A, that is, the title track, you have an arrangement of synthesizer, echo and tape delay, and on side B, you have the "dismembering" of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major done in three different ways. That is, if <strong>Discreet Music</strong> is an important step towards the creation of Ambient (and it is), it refers to the invention of processes of the music creating itself - which isn't the case of famous works like <strong>The Plateaux Of Mirror</strong> and <strong>Apollo: Atmospheres &amp; Soundtracks</strong>.</p>

<p>This distinction outta the way, I can comment on the music. 'Discreet Music' is quite a brilliant achievement, in technical and academic terms, indeed. By writing two very simple motifs of differing lengths into the memory of a synthesizer and setting up a small, but tricky chain of equipment, Eno created a machine that invented and reinvented music with no other human input whatsoever. Eno reduced his role to handling a graphic equaliser to, once in a while, alter the sound - though in the final result, the changes are pretty much unnoticeable. The thing here is that whether you'll <em>enjoy</em> this stuff or not is a difficult thing to predict. After all, the music moves all by itself, and there's absolutely <em>no control</em> on whether those two motifs will get into conflict (though they're in the same key, using a reduced number of notes, so there's no <em>dissonance</em> per se). Instead, the whole thing goes on through a lot of very subtle shifts between tension and release, and this might be either very calming and pleasant, or extremely unnerving. Eno recommends us to listen to the song on the "threshold of inaudibility", and in fact, it was originally conceived as a backing track to Robert Fripp's solo performances, so trying to <em>listen</em> to the song is somewhat foolish. Myself, I'm a bit undecided, in fact. This album makes it clear that, as much as the "chaotic" sounding electronic music of the 90's might sound crazy at times, there's a sense of <em>control</em> happening. <em>This</em> is what music sounds like when it's left to its own devices, and in a very significant way, he achieved the core of what can be considered as "furniture music". With no one at the wheel, music becomes pretty much an object.</p>

<p>Well, the music <em>is</em> pleasant, and the little synth themes are very pretty. Whether you'll like it or not will depend on your tolerance towards 30 minutes of the same thing. Me, well, I'm not the kind of person who would enjoy this. If I need a calming effect, I'd probably stick to forty minutes of varied "non object" music, if you understand me. <strong>Another Green World</strong> would probably do fine. As for "applied music", well, I'm not <em>that</em> academic. I accept that many people enjoy this album immensely, but I just have to consider this a great achievement, not an enjoyable thing. But there's nothing here that turns me off. Well... mostly, I think. Side B takes its time to explore a radically different style of algorithmic music, and what you have here are three, well, butchered versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D. And I say "butchered" in the musical sense - you won't find in these tracks the kind of beauty you'd find on the intact canon, and whether what you <em>will</em> here is beauty of horror, well, is also hard to define. Just try to imagine it: the first track consists of the part of each instrument being systematically slowed down, the second part groups notes with completely different time markings, and the third puts phrases of different lengths to be performed at the same time. Everything here is played live by a chamber orchestra, so there's no tape trickery (aside from some post-processing). But still, the songs delve into complete chaos, and all that's left from Pachelbel's Canon is... well, the key of D, I guess.</p>

<p>I can honestly say I don't enjoy this stuff. Maybe I haven't learned to enjoy, but what would be my motivation to try to learn it? How can I guess if, at the end of such a difficult journey of learning, there will be a worthwhile reward? Wouldn't it be better to listen to Stravinsky instead? Fans of the album don't need to kill me. This album is getting a relatively high rating, and if you were to consider "pure enjoyability", the rating should be lower. But who knows, maybe the next listen won't change my mind. But how long will it take until I listen to it again? Who's to know?</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>7/15</strong></big>  - Sorry, folks.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>6/15</strong></big>  - The title track <em>is</em> pleasant, but on a very... obvious way.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Can't argue here. As much as the likes of Erik Satie are behind this concept, Eno was into something here.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Considering the technical side of it, it's nearly flawless.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>8/15</strong></big>  - Tough stuff.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/9.png" alt="9" />
</p>

<p>I'll come running to read your <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">mail</a>.</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="star"><em>Fripp &amp; Eno:</em> Evening Star (1975)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Evening Star</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li><span class="good">Wind On Water ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Evening Star ++</span></li>
  <li>Evensong</li>
  <li>Wind On Wind <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>An Index Of Metals</li>
</ol>

<p>The second installment of Fripp &amp; Eno once again puts the Frippertronics to good/bad use. The main difference between this and <strong>(No Pussyfooting)</strong> is that there aren't two long songs. Like before, one side is more Fripp dominated, and the other is more Eno dominated. And possibly Eno's experience with his own solo albums motivated him to focus on a "suite" of smaller pieces rather than one monster soundscape, like Fripp does here. As a result, this record is easier to "digest" for a listener not so accustomed with the idea of long, samey compositions.</p>

<p>Side one is split in four tracks, though they're fairly different from each other, and don't seem to be designed to make a full "suite" together. It just feels like it, in the end, especially with the two beginning tracks. 'Wind On Water' creates a crescendo of the infinitly echoed guitar parts piling on top of each other, sounding very much like waves in the sea. It's a really pretty "sight", if you can think of it like that. It arrives slowly, reaches a sort of peak, and then flickers away under its own echoes, opening space for the next track. 'Evening Star' is actually built on a loop, with nice guitar picking and a harmonics riff. There's little synthesizer here, if any, but it doesn't feel too different from the <strong>Another Green World</strong> tracks. It's a lot longer, though, and Fripp uses it as a space to explore with his usual brand of guitar soloing, with goes from quick, jumping notes to extended strains, from pleasantly high pitched notes to an unsettling low-pitched growl.</p>

<p>The other two tracks break away from that sound slightly. 'Evensong' is a little three minute piece, which is mostly a juxtaposition of little guitar "loops" - I place loops between quotes because the Frippertronics don't work with loops, but you should know that already. In a way, that song predicts much of Brian's future experiments. And so does 'Wind On Wind', in fact, which is actually a short extract of the title track from <strong>Discreet Music</strong>. It's, in fact, surprising how beautiful and calming it sounds when put in this context. It doesn't really represent very well the original idea of the track, of being a song that develops on its own, but it really shows the "musical" side of the experiment very efficiently. That's side one. And notice that it's more Eno dominated not because it has synths, or keyboards, but because of the style of composition. Having that in mind, it's pretty obvious that side B, taken over by the twenty-six minute long 'An Index Of Metals', is more Fripp dominated. It's made mainly by atonal, abstract images of guitar echoes and blurs, which develops <em>very</em> slowly all the way through. Of course, the relative "ugliness" of the sound doesn't mean it's not as visionary or evocative as side one; in fact, it could be even <em>more</em> evocative, depending on the listener. It's not my case, but I can't deny that the song has its worth. It's an interesting listen, and no doubt it was an important part of Fripp's later discovery of his "Soundscapes". Fripp fans will certainly want to have it, and I appreciate having it around.</p>

<p>I'm not <em>fond</em> of this record, but I think it's really good. This must not be a great stimulus for one to buy the album, but the truth is that this is an album only for the already initiated in the Fripp/Eno realm. It probably won't convert the non-believers; it's bound to bore them out of their skulls, but that's how it goes. Eno's catalogue - or Fripp's catalogue, for that matter - isn't one made of easily accessible records. But you should know that by now.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Believe me, it is enjoyable.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's certainly well-crafted enough to be evocative.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Not too far from <strong>(No Pussyfooting) Vol. 2</strong>, which at least grants it <em>some</em> originality.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>12/15</strong></big> - The music is nifty enough.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>10/15</strong></big> - Can't say it's <em>flawless</em>.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/11.png" alt="11" />
</p>

<p><a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail On Water</a>, <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Evening Mail</a>, <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mailsong</a>, <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail On Mail</a> and <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">An Index Of Mails</a>.</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="science">Before And After Science (1977)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Spider And I</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>No One Receiving <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Backwater ++</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Kurt's Rejoinder ++</span></li>
  <li>Energy Fools The Magician <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">King's Lead Hat ++</span></li>
  <li>Here He Comes <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">Julie With ++</span></li>
  <li>By This River <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Through Hollow Lands</li>
  <li><span class="good">Spider And I ++</span></li>
</ol>

<p>Eno's involvement with David Bowie on his famous album <strong>Low</strong>, and certainly <strong>"Heroes"</strong> as well, were a clear influence on the development of this album - not because of the musical style, but because of the <em>structure</em>. Said structure would also be important on the Eno-produced Talking Heads album <strong>Remain In Light</strong>, but that's for later. As you might have seen, this is a "return" to the pop music making. Of the ten songs here, only two are instrumentals. The others are quite close to the brand of "traditional" pop music making of <strong>Taking Tiger Mountain</strong>, with obscure lyrics and quirky musical tricks. And to me, this album is quite superior to that album, even though it's way less "innovative".</p>

<p>How come? Well, the music is quite fantastic. The songs in this album are some of the most complete, rich, fascinating and evocative ever, <em>somehow</em>. Taken together, in a single, seamless package, they make an amazingly smooth listen, which is always enjoyable and heartwarming. Phew, that's a whole load of fawning, ain't it? That's just to remove all doubts that I really like it. I'm not <em>mad</em> over the album, really. But taken objectively, it's a heck of an achievement, and one of Eno's best albums. It's very accessible, and it's not "experimental" and "intellectual" like his ambient releases, but who cares? It only goes to show Eno's versatility, for everyone's pleasure.</p>

<p>That "structure" I talked about, those who know the two Bowie albums and/or the Talking Heads album I mentioned, will know what it is. Those who don't shall know now. Eno opted to "separate" his album, musically, in "two sides", just like the actual vinyl record; one side is the fast, energetic, active music; the other is the quiet, slow, relaxing music. The cleverness in this album, though, is that one side naturally leads into the other, so that having the whole album run at once, on the CD, produces a seamless listen. With a bit of a stretch, you could join the end of the album baak to the beginning and form a cycle, but that would require a bit more imagination. But still, the album is done very cleverly. As for the music, the production technique Eno employed is a bit novel to him. The idea was to take "finished"arrangements and <em>remove</em> layers, stripping the songs down to their essence. Sometimes, it doesn't sound like it,because some of the arrangements are quite thick and refined ('King's Lead Hat', for instance), but the fact is that, be it due to the production style or not, the album has a quite unique sound. Other people have described it as "liquid", or "watery", and I join the chorus. That's <em>exactly</em> the way it sounds like; and it helps that there are some allusions to water, some obvious ('Backwater'), other not ('Julie With'). And you know that, when it comes to Eno, the value of the words is their sound, not exactly their meaning. But in this case, there's a nice match.</p>

<p>Talking about favourite songs here is a bit useless. They're all good, to some extent. The instruments are certainly close to the spirit of "ambient" that was being born at that time, but they also fit the "crescendo" style of the <strong>Another Green World</strong> instrumentals. 'Energy Fools The Magician', with not too much effort, could fit that album, in fact. The drumming by Phil Collins and the sometimes dissonant bass lines by Percy Jones, as well as a set of occasional synth riffs, make it somewhat of a slower take at 'Over Fire Island', but with a <em>drastically</em> different mood and vision. As for 'Through Hollow Lands', the landscape-like feel is also reminescent of 'Another Green World', but it's fairly moody and dark - not <em>sombre</em>, but dark, with the instruments joining slowly over a simple chord progression and an odd time signature. And those are the instrumentals. The song? Well, the <em>songs</em>,man! The only way I can talk about them is mentioning them all.</p>

<p>I have to say I have a certain preference over the fast songs of side A over the slow songs on side B. It's just the fact that the side A songs are so incredibly entertaining and intoxicating, you know! The opener 'No One Receiving' might not give you a clue of what I'm talking about, on first listen, since it's pretty much a gradual introduction into the sound of the album. But I can't help digging that funky groove, the odd guitar chords, the chugging bass, the awesome descending vocal melody and the twisted synth effects. But after that one, the quirkiness and the fun burst in with power, starting with "piano boogie" 'Backwater', one of Eno's most irresistibly joyful and catchy songs ever. The lyrics are as strange as ever, but they meld in with the rhythm and the melody in a way that mankind rarely sees in music, even to this day, and it helps that both the rhythm and the melody are brilliant to the extreme. It's only enhanced by the clever use of brass-like keyboards and Fripp's droning guitar sound.</p>

<p>In terms of quirkiness, that's nothing compared to the other two songs, though. 'Kurt's Rejoinder' is a most appropriate tribute to one of Eno's heroes, dadaist poet Kurt Schwitters. It literally speeds by with a relentless drums and that quirky, jumpy bass sound, over which Eno lies his usual layers of sounds and synthesizers, along with great, machine-gun style lyrics. It sure has plenty of 'quirkiness', but it's a heck of an entertaining tune. 'King's Lead Had'is less relentlessly freaky, and it's probably even more entertaining and delightful, bopping along up and down to an upbeat rhythm, and dozens of layers of strange, percussive sounds coming in from everywhere at once, melding into a crazy fabric of rhythm, over which Brian goes in his usual rants, shooting his lyrics like a squeaky rap and throwing in a remarkably funny nonsense line once in a while ("The passage of my life is measured out in shirts", anyone?), and it comes to a pretty catchy chorus, even. Oh, yes, and unscramble the letters of "King's Lead Hat" and see what you'll find.</p>

<p>The song finishes off side A for good, faster and funner than ever, and then you'll turn the disc to immerse yourself on the second side. If you're listening to the CD, it will roll along like it's the same thing, and remarkably, it works. Mostly because the opening of the second side, 'Here He Comes', just <em>sounds</em> like a pleasant ballad that's supposed to follow up the most relentless track on a record. It's pleasant, joyful, and the sound in itself is the best you could ask for. There isn't a lot in terms of catchy, memorable melody, and it perhaps <em>is</em> too long for the most impatient kinds. Me, I dig it while it's on, and it's not at all an "unhummable" song, if you understand me. It's probably even prettier than I made it sound like, here. The dig here is that, once the song is finished, the album doesn't even return to <em>touch</em> the level of energy displayed on the first side - it just floats gently down the river on its way to an ocean of peace and quiet.</p>

<p>The drifting begins with 'Julie With', which is certainly one of the most mesmerising songs I know. And it ain't hard to see why: that untrivial rhythmic pattern of the electric piano, the vibraphone and the bass guitar is impossibly captivating, and even Eno's vocal melody kind of sticks to your head. It changes considerably on the chorus, when the rhythm is swallowed by a vast ocean of pad chords, and is led back to the main rhythm by gorgeous guitar arpeggios. Eno even plays a very, very gentle solo at the end, on his guitar. The following track is the most minimal on the album, featuring no more than an acoustic and an electric piano, some chimes and brief synth passages. It's basically a wonderful little piano melody looping trough the song, over which Eno lays another beautiful, soothing vocal melody. It's as simple and as good as it could be. If that wasn't quiet enough, 'Through Hollow Lands' is a four minute instrumental which follows the idea of "building" the arrangement while the song go, instrument after instrument coming in. This time, it's a simple pattern over an odd time signature, which goes and goes, grows and grows until it just dies away</p>

<p>The final track, 'Spider And I', is no more minimal than that, but is surprisingly grandiose compared to all the others. For this, there's a small symphony of synths, with some piano and bass added, and Eno's lonely, wandering vocals finishing it all off. It's really hard to describe; it's almost dirgey, but it's major-key and joyful, but also weepy. And the way the whole song comes together is plainly stunning. It gets me all the time, and it's the one Eno's song that's the closest to provoking an emotional chain reaction in my head. Even the lyrics are touching, by golly; they can be seen as more of that nonsense, but to me, there seems to be a certain reason for that "knitting a web to catch one tiny fly on a world without sound", and the "ship that sails away, a thousand miles away". Can you explain? Even if you can't, this still is my favourite song in the album, and a glory for Eno. I can't say the whole album is a <em>glory</em> for him, but it's one of my favourites, and a heck of an album. It's not really recommendable for <em>everyone</em>,but I don't think you'll lose a part of your brain if you try it out (which is something I can't say about the likes of Mike Oldfield's <strong>The Millennium Bell</strong>, or example). Get it, if you want some pure, wonderful music. Don't mind the lack of "innovation", though - there's too much enjoyment here for that.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>15/15</strong></big> - Exaggeration? I like <em>everything</em> here.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>15/15</strong></big> - It's as close as it can be to emotionally smashing.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Like I said, there isn't much here that I could call "new".<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>14/15</strong></big> - Anything lacking? Not at all. It's just not <em>mindblowing</em> in this aspect.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>15/15</strong></big> - Flows so well, you might not even believe it.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/14.png" alt="14" />
</p>

<p>Comments? Ideas? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Send them to me</a>!</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="airports">Ambient 1: Music For Airports (1978)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>1/1</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>1/1</li>
  <li>1/2</li>
  <li>2/1</li>
  <li>2/2</li>
</ol>

<p>For the first time, Brian Eno properly coins the term "Ambient music", and begins a series of four albums following more or less the same philosophy, but with highly different approaches to it (does that even make sense?). <strong>Music For Airports</strong> was actually intended as backing music for an airport, so the title isn't just surreal imagery. This might be, in fact, one of the first major Eno works to be produced with a very specific goal, and reprising the "mechanical" sound generating gadgets for <strong>Discreet Music</strong>, it's one of the earliest examples of "applied" Eno music, if you can call it that. This is a seminal work, for it brings a very specific, very tangible definition of <em>what</em> is Ambient music. Works such as <strong>Discreet Music</strong> and <strong>Evening Star</strong> pointed the way very clearly, and in retrospect, you can call them ambient works. But before this record, the idea of "ambient" was still very vague.</p>

<p>The main idea here is that these four tracks are very different from each other, but all of them exemplify the method of "music that writes itself". They're all long tracks, all very samey, and... well, they're not 'Discreet Music', for they are shorter and, um... a <em>bit</em> more varied. Each one boasts a different instrumentation, though nothing beyond the basics: piano, synthesizers and female voices. No, don't get too excited: all the voices you'll hear are "aaahhhhh" in a few different pitches. And the piano and synths are the usual, slow meandering style. But let's talk about the tracks themselves. I'll be honest again: I don't really enjoy these tracks <em>very much</em>. The idea and the craft behind them are novel and remarkable, and taken solely on that level, they're brilliant tracks. But on a level of pure enjoyment, there are other Eno works that I enjoy much, much more. Anyway, positive points first. The first and last tracks here are really good. The latter is played entirely on a synthesizer. It's ten minutes of meandering on a single chord, but it's pleasant and beautiful. The former, seventeen minutes long, is built on a single, extremely pleasant piano melody, with several loops playing on the back and interacting with each other in many different ways through phasing effects. The result gives it a sense of movement, even though the piano phrase never changes, and it's <em>really</em> nice to listen to.</p>

<p>The two middle tracks are the ones with the voices. And while the problem is not in the voices themselves, these tracks are the two most "mechanical" sounding ones. And, well, they <em>are</em> more mechanical. The second track is merely a set of loops of different lengths playing together - bringing back the idea of 'Discreet Music', but with zero melodic content. This is purely a <em>sonic</em> experiment, and the "aaaaah" notes are supposed to form textures, not melodies. It's more than eight minutes long, but complaining about anything here being too lengthy is pointless. Thing is, I don't <em>dislike</em> the track. The song never gets unpleasantly tense, like the Pachelbel variations on <strong>Discreet Music</strong>, and the use of human voice is really clever. But there's little to talk about it, really. It's not one of the most evocative things Eno ever did. The third track adds a piano to the mix, giving it a bit of "motion", at last. It's a tad better. But, you know? Eno was still doing "pure" Ambient music here - there's no attempt to be evocative, or to conjure certain images, like there was on <strong>Another Green World</strong>. For many people, this might be an asset, for people can have all sorts of different visions according to the music. But in its essence, the album is nothing other than an experiment with sound and its effect on people - even the back cover of the album refers to each track as something like a graphic diagram, referring vaguely to the process behind the songs' creation. Heck, there aren't even any titles. As a result, the album demands a bit of effort from the listener, and what I'm saying is, yes, I'm an ignorant dunce who's completely unable to enjoy this record. Well... okay, not <em>completely</em>. I do enjoy it, but I'm rarely in the mood for it. It's not my first pick for an Eno ambient album. Keep on reading and you'll understand.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>9/15</strong></big>  - I can't say I detest it. At worst, it's tolerable. At best, it's pleasant.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>7/15</strong></big>  - It doesn't touch me, though.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Eno had already recorded the likes of <strong>Discreet Music</strong>, but this is still innovative.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>8/15</strong></big>  - Um, help?<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>7/15</strong></big>  - I won't say I'm crazy for listening to these four songs in a row...
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/08.png" alt="8" />
</p>

<p>Death threats? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a>...</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="mirror"><em>Harold Budd &amp; Brian Eno:</em> Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror (1981)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>An Arc Of Doves</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>First Light</li>
  <li>Steal Away</li>
  <li>The Plateaux Of Mirror</li>
  <li>Above Chiangmai</li>
  <li>An Arc Of Doves <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Not Yet Remembered</li>
  <li>The Chill Air</li>
  <li>Among Fields Of Crystal</li>
  <li>Wind In Lonely Fences</li>
  <li>Failing Light</li>
</ol>

<p>Here is one <em>NICE</em> ambient album, and when I use the word nice, I don't use it as an euphemism for "better than <strong>Music For Airports</strong>". No, siree. I mean it's a really, really nice album to listen to, and it causes nice feelings in me. Really! I mean it when I say this record shows what my general expectations are towards an ambient album, and it won't be such a stretch to say this is my favourite ambient record, of the ones I've heard so far (not many).</p>

<p>See, for the second instalment of the series, Eno teamed up with Harold Budd, a composer and pianist who was already doing some work in the general direction that Eno was taking. He certainly is an experienced pianist, but not only that,he has a highly original and interesting style, which sounds just <em>made</em> for the kind of stuff Eno wanted to do. So, what you get here is just what should be expected from a collaboration between an excellent musician like Budd and an excellent non-musician like Eno (reminding you that it was Eno <em>himself</em> who coined that definition). The premise is simple but effective: the music is created to generate scenery. Landscapes. Images. Sights. Just look at the song titles and you'll see; like <strong>Another Green World</strong>, the song titles are suggestive, and the textures produced here are more focused and tangible than the vague <em>suggestions</em> of images shown on <strong>Music For Airports</strong>. Also, the album isn't really an "experiment". As far as I know, Eno isn't using tape loops or electronic gadgets to "generate" music. No: this music is written, or at least, <em>composed</em> with some goal in mind, and the goal is the imagery.</p>

<p>It's easy and quite obvious to point out that Budd is pretty much entirely responsible for the piano playing here, and his playing is what I can call "exploratory". With a certain chord or harmony floating around, Budd plays those single, lonely notes or quick runs of them, as if he's truly opening the space around you. He just goes on exploring the musical ambience, never visiting the same place twice - though that doesn't mean he doesn't repeat certain notes or passages. And beside him, Eno does the job of adding soft synthesized textures, adding other electronic embellishments, or further enhancing the piano sound with reverb, echo and whatnot. And mind you, it always sounds just <em>right</em>. Eno isn't the man to play around with his toys for the sake of it, piling effect over effect just because it sounds "cool". No: he's professional, he knows what he's doing here. So, the two men complete each other in the album, and it's hard for me to try to say who's more "important" here. To be honest, I don't think there's such a thing here. For some people, Budd may be the main hero, while others will prefer to focus on Eno. But this album is a collaboration, and the spotlight is never over one of them specifically. The focus is always on the music and the atmosphere created by both. So, I don't think it's cheesy to say both of them are equally important. As far as I know, it's just true. And good.</p>

<p>And you can fully believe me when I say I really enjoy this album. I don't listen to ambient music often, you see, because it's not the only kind of music that calms me down. Bob Marley, Sigur R&oacute;s and Nick Drake also have relaxing effects on me, but of course, the effect of ambient music is wholly unique. And this album isn't just unique sounding: it's plainly gorgeous. And being ambient, I can just let it roll on as a pleasant background texture or "furniture music", if you will, or I can concentrate on it and picture all those lovely images in my head. It also helps that there are several songs here, and only two of them exceed the six minute mark. As such, the album is much less static than <strong>Music For Airports</strong>, which is good for <em>me</em>. Maybe not you, but for me it is. You might think <strong>The Plateaux Of Mirror</strong> is too accessible, mainstream and pop to your highbrow tastes, and if you do, go to hell. I just dig the rubbadubbers out of this. And to give you a sample of my highbrow tastes, the longer songs here are really quite good. 'First Light' serves as a good display of the general sound as a whole, with a major C chord floating around and the high piano notes pinging around for a good while. Eventually, it's joined by the soft pad sounds of Eno's synths. But I say, just those five minutes of lonely piano playing serve to show you how dang skilled Harold Budd is at playing the piano. Just <em>you</em> try making two alternated piano notes sound so damn gorgeous like he does here. This is <em>really</em> the kind of playing that grabs me for good.</p>

<p>The other longer song here is 'An Arc Of Doves', my favourite song on the record. There's just something incredibly special about those notes that fall like little raindrops, blown by the soft, windy pad chords. The chord changes are so subtle and lovely, they really make me thing of the gracious movements of an arc of doves in the air. I can definitely picture them on the sky by sunset as the song plays, I definitely can. It really goes and goes, and I never get tired of it. This is the song in which you can hear those quick, yet soft flurries of notes Budd plays on the piano. In other songs, like in 'Above Chiangmai', or on the ninety second long 'Steal Away', his playing is more sparse, sometimes enhanced by the clever use of reverb. And on 'The Chill Air', there's the nifty trick of backwards reverb which makes some notes "fade in" into the song. See, the effect is different in each song. And so is the style, which means there's a considerably amoung of variety here, with each song bringing a new idea to the table, to the point that 'Not Yet Remembered' even features vocals: see, it's a very, very simple sequence of chords Budd keeps playing, and later on, Eno adds those floating, distant vocals over them. It really makes the song stand out considerably, but the mood matches the album with perfection.</p>

<p>'Among Fields Of Crystal' might arrive with a sense of d&eacute;j&agrave; vu, as in "hmm, already heard this sound before", but Budd's piano playing sounds fairly jazzy in it, giving it a quite cool harmonic twist, and 'Failing Light' isn't too different from 'First Light', albeit with a strange "twangy" effect applied on the piano. But there are more exciting changes, still. The title track has Budd on the electric piano, and the interplay between him and the synth chords are really good, and on 'Wind In Lonely Fences', the electric piano is even pushed a bit to the background, as the song is dominated by eerie sounds of metallic clanging and eerie chords. It's the most "different" song here, but every bit as good as the others. Quite unsettling, even, but that doesn't make the album any less pleasant and beautiful than it is. Even if the album <em>might</em> sound a tad repetitive at times, it never stops being good. The songs are so well made, even, that sometimes it all sounds too short. I mean, given the right mood, I could enjoy twenty minutes of 'An Arc Of Doves'. But on second thought, most of the time I'd rather enjoy twenty minutes with five different, gorgeous sounds. So, it's a good deal.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>13/15</strong></big> - I'm serious, man, this is beautiful stuff.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Evocative as hell, too. You wouldn't guess.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>11/15</strong></big> - Not as innovative as <strong>Music For Airports</strong>, that's for sure.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - There's nothing lacking here.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Perfectly enjoyable all the way through, pretty much.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/12.png" alt="12" />
</p>

<p><em>Reader comments:</em></p>

<div class="commentsHeader">
      <strong><a href="mailto:simon.hart@atari.com">Simon Hart</a> (February 20, 2005):</strong>
</div>

<div class="comments">
<p>Hey there,</p> 

<p>I just wanted to say I've enjoyed your reviews heaps and I think they are very on the mark - the Mike Oldfield page is particularly brilliant and hilarious. I agree absolutely that <strong>Amarok</strong> is his greatest and most underrated masterpiece.</p>

<p>One thing I just had to say after reading your Brian Eno page : if you've never heard it try Brain Eno / Harold Budd, "<strong>The Pearl</strong>"... It is like a direct carry-on from <strong>Ambient 2</strong>, yet it has a totally new level of beauty and mastery that makes <strong>ambient 2</strong> sound exactly like a practice run for this album. It seems more Eno dominated than Budd, unlike <strong>Ambient 2</strong>. Budd gives Eno the raw materials but then Eno just transforms them into amazingly beautiful pieces that rarely sound like piano.</p> 

<p>Tracks to watch for:</p>

<ul>
 <li>Lost in the humming air</li>
 <li>Their Memories.</li>
 <li>Foreshadowed.</li>
</ul> 

<p>It is one of those albums where you couldn't pick a note to change, like <strong>Amarok</strong>. <span class="edNote">[editor's note: thanks a bunch. I'm highly interested in <strong>The Pearl</strong>, but I still haven't had the opportunity to pick it up. I sure want to listen to it, though!]</span></p>

<p>Simon, Oz</p>
</div>

<p>Comments? Suggestions? "Budd vs. Eno" debates? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a>!</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="ghosts"><em>Brian Eno &amp; David Byrne:</em> My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>The Jezebel Spirit</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>America Is Waiting <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Mea Culpa</li>
  <li><span class="good">Regiment ++</span></li>
  <li>Help Me Somebody <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li><span class="good">The Jezebel Spirit ++</span></li>
  <li>Very, Very Hungry</li>
  <li>Moonlight In Glory</li>
  <li>The Carrier</li>
  <li>A Secret Life</li>
  <li>Come With Us</li>
  <li>Mountain Of Needles <span class="good">+</span></li>
</ol>

<p>This Eno and Byrne collaboration was really a very important step towards the development of the Talking Heads sound on <strong>Remain In Light</strong> (released before this, but recorded after). And many would consider this as an "experiment", or as a "historical curiousity" with little musical quality so to speak. Well, people are free to say whatever they wish, in theory, so I can't complain about that. However, saying there's little musical quality here is a <em>bit</em> of a stretch, to put it mildly. In retrospect, the album was certainly groundbreaking for its innovative uses of electronic sampling mixed with ethnic rhythms, found objects, passionate religious speeches and Arabic chants. In fact, chants are what caused the replacement of the track 'Qu'ran' for 'Very, Very Hungry', but fortunately it was the only one.</p>

<p>The album itself, when listened to today, doesn't show much innovation, experimentality and avantgardism as it showed back in the 80's, but that's only because the kind of music has become nearly commonplace already. But remember that the whole fever was sparked by <em>this</em> album almost singlehandedly. And what's even more impressive is that for an album that was so experimental in essence, the music in it remains striking, strong and even <em>catchy</em> today - and that's the mark of musicians as competent as Brian Eno and as clever as David Byrne. Of course you can't give too much credit to either of them individually, and it's clear that the album wouldn't exist if it wasn't for a <em>combination</em> of their skills and interests. It's kudos for both of them, and thanks that those folks actually got together for this collaboration (or curses, whether you're that bothered about all the stuff this album <em>spawned</em>, but that's up to you).</p>

<p>The music itself is quite accessible, in fact - the rhythms are catchy, there are great bass grooves and guitar bits,and all the voices and speaking and chanting and yelling fit into the whole picture <em>marvellously</em>. You can see clearly that there was no "let's put this here so we will look <em>cool</em>" schmaltz. These guys really mean it with those mean, funky grooves. For the fans of melodic, whistlable music, this album will be a sort of disappointment, you see - there's as little melody as possible here. But who on <em>Earth</em> would demand melodies from an album that has so much to offer? These songs are intelligently constructed, <em>and</em> they're shoulder-jerkily groovy. Most of them, that is: the album follows Eno's famous method of "division" between fast and slow, and the first five songs are all based heavily on strong, punchy rhythms in their own ways. For example, the stuff ranges from the dark, menacing bass grooves of 'Regiment' and 'The Jezebel Spirit' to ultra-jerky fast tunes like 'Mea Culpa' and 'Help Me Somebody'. As for side B, the songs are mainly slow, haunting sonic textures, enhanced by all sorts of sound tricks and effects.</p>

<p>It's necessary, now, to reckon the important role played by the samples of speeches and chanting. As much as the grooves are cool and the guitars, "World Music" (stupid term) rhythms and instruments, and found objects mix up well, they wouldn't be much without the samples. And like I said, they're only this great because they're not there to showcase coolness. At times, like with the female chanting on 'Regiment', the singing and speaking on 'Moonlight In Glory', and the frantic speech of 'Help Me Somebody', the samples sound like they were <em>born</em> for the songs. Sometimes, the focus is more or less on what those people are saying, and my favourite example of that is in 'The Jezebel Spirit', in which the ominous, pulsating rhythm serves as a background to a priest and his exorcism ritual. It's hilarious, in a kind of sad and/or scary way, the way the priest keeps going "Out! Out, Jezebel! Out in the name of Jesus! Keep blowing, sister," while David Byrne plays his guitar and Eno throws those synth sweeps at us.</p>

<p>On a more "musical" aspect, you should check out 'Regiment', which sets a funky rhythm to the singing of a Lebanese artist with fantastic results. 'Mea Culpa' uses the vocal samples in a completely different fashion from the others, turning them into jumbled piles of disjointed syllabes and using the result as a <em>rhythm section</em> (an effect that's used also in 'Very, Very Hungry', the replacement for 'Qu'ran'), adding some droning synth bass sounds. Funny thing is that 'America Is Waiting' sounds to me like a cross between Eno's 'No One Receiving' and U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', with its drum patterns and strong guitar chugging, while 'Help Me Somebody' is faintly reminescent of the jerky fast rhythm of 'Kurt's Rejoinder', albeit with catchy little guitar lines and the hilarious, passionate speech going on all over it. Side B rolls by and steers the music heavily into the moody, eerie territory, with dark synthesizer textures, odd sounds popping in and other kind of stuff - like the weird bass line and chants in 'Moonlight In Glory', or the miscellaneous syncopated sounds coming in from all sides in 'Come With Us'. 'A Secret Life' is, to me, the "strangest" song here, with an odd encoding effect applied on the vocal chanting, giving it an eerie harmony, while 'The Carrier' is more "traditional" in its sound, though still very beautiful and atmospheric. Finally, bits of "sound experimentation" pop up on 'Very, Very Hungry' (the boppy, jerky tune with the "scratched CD" vocal effect) and the oddly beautiful 'Mountain Of Needles', which is the only one not to feature voices.</p>

<p>The place of this record in Brian Eno's page is even highly debatable, because this <em>is</em> a collaboration between him and Byrne, and it could very well be on Talking Heads's page. And yes, this album is <em>highly</em> recommended to the Talking Heads community, and for all those who are fond of <strong>Remain In Light</strong>. It's really very good, and very interesting, and <em>fun</em>. Highly recommended indeed, trust me.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Not exactly addictive, but actively interesting.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>12/15</strong></big> - For an album that's so worried with <em>experimenting</em> with stuff, it's very engaging.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>14/15</strong></big> - Don't need to say anything here.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Awesome music abounds. Utterly abounds.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Yeah, it's very solid.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/12.png" alt="12" />
</p>

<p>Comments? Suggestions? "Byrne vs. Eno" debates? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a>!</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="land">Ambient 4: On Land (1982)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Dunwich Beach, August, 1960</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Lizard Point</li>
  <li>The Lost Day</li>
  <li>Tal Coat</li>
  <li>Shadow</li>
  <li>Lantern Marsh</li>
  <li>Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)</li>
  <li>A Clearing</li>
  <li>Dunwich Beach, August, 1960</li>
</ol>

<p>Here, we jump straight to the fourth and last installment of Ambient, which is also solo Eno effort (the second one is a collaboration with Harold Budd and the third one is an Eno produced album by Laraaji). And it does close the series with a <em>major</em> statement, which is radically opposite to the philosophy of <strong>Music For Airports</strong>: with this one being a showcase of moods and abstract, "mental" images, <strong>On Land</strong> is just what the title suggests. Everything here is clearly designed to evoke a certain place - not always a <em>specific</em> place, but places that you can pretty much see in detail. And they aren't the most <em>pleasant</em> places, really. The music here is quite murky, moody and mysterious - almost scary at times. So, if you think "Ambient" is music to put you to sleep, this album might prove you wrong. But then again, who knows? It sure doesn't put <em>me</em> in the right mood to sleep,but that hardly proves anything.</p>

<p>The main thing here is that the album is very well made. It's got great textures, great atmospheres and basically everything that's necessary to make a solid ambient album. The notable thing is that the "novelty" aspect of the album is virtually nonexistant, compared to <strong>Music For Airports</strong>. These songs are really <em>compositions</em>,rather than experiments. In short, it's much closer to <strong>The Plateaux Of Mirror</strong> in that aspect, just without Budd's piano playing. Also, what happens is that there's less synthesizer than usual - though the finished results sound very much like a sonic painting made of purely electronic sounds, the process of making the album involved relatively little actual synthesizer, and there's plenty of use of found sounds, non-synthesized instruments and many different types of sounds. For the final listener, though, it's not very useful to try to discern what is made by synthesizer and what isn't. The main worry should be with the music itself, and not its components.</p>

<p>Still, there are plenty of those "components" in each track. Some of them are made of "notes" in the traditional sense, while others are barely recognisable sounds. What makes this stuff really sound like ambient is that these components never really play together, thus giving the sensation of creating a "place" rather than a "song". So in that aspect, it's very different from <strong>The Plateaux Of Mirror</strong>, or virtually everything Eno did to this point.While several of his earlier works can be given that corny "sonic painting" definition, this is what stands closest to it in its essence. Those paintings are almost always very abstract, even when they carry names of actual places (Lizard Point, Leeks Hills, Dunwich Beach and Leeks Hills). The sounds are hardly ever recognisable, and when they are (such as the swampy bubbly noises on 'Tal Coat' or insect and animal like sounds in other tracks), they just give you a faint idea of where you might be. The aforementioned 'Tal Coat' is one of the most "tangible" tracks here, with a dense array of sounds, a strangely pulsating synthetic sound and the occasional appearances of a deep, resonating bass and higher pitched notes, creating an interesting mixture between light and dark. Tracks like 'Lizard Point' and 'The Lost Day' are pretty vague, and 'Shadow' is quite eerie, featuring a dissonant, breathy noise that happens to be a treated trumpet. The album gets somewhat lighter on side B. 'Unfamiliar Wind' and 'A Clearing' have more of those humming, droning sounds, and 'Dunwich Beach, August, 1960' has touches of guitar and strange melodies.</p>

<p>It's hard to choose favourites and highlights here. Not because all songs are the same, but because Eno's effort is only properly represented by the album as a whole. 'Dunwich Beach, August, 1960' is the only that sounds the most appealing to my tastes, but not by a wide margin. The whole album is very effective, very well built and enjoyable, and while it's not one of the <em>best</em> ambient releases out there, is one of the most interesting and unique. Take the rating with a small pinch of salt - it's hard to put such wildly different kinds of albums under only one rating system,so what might seem as a "barely above average" rating for Eno most accurately represents a very, very good record that doesn't get too many listenings from me. Those with bigger interest on ambient music will probably rank it higher than I do. If that's your case, keep that in mind.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's not like an album like this should <em>thrill</em> somebody, but it's a very good ambient experience.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's not like an album like this should inspire <em>emotions</em>, but it's a very evocative ambient experience.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's not like an album like this should be <em>revolutionary</em>, but it's a very peculiar ambient experience.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>11/15</strong></big> - It's not like an album like this should be <em>melodic</em>, but it's a very well crafted ambient experience.<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>12/15</strong></big> - It's not like an album like this should be <em>flawless</em>, but hey... it is.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: <img src="images/11.png" alt="11" />
</p>

<p><a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a> all your ideas... okay, not all of them.</p>

<hr />

<h2 id="soundtracks">Apollo - Atmospheres &amp; Soundtracks (1983)</h2>
<p class="medium">
  Best song: <big>Always Returning</big>
</p>
<div class="medium">
  Track list:
</div>
<ol class="trackList">
  <li>Under Stars</li>
  <li>The Secret Place</li>
  <li>Matta</li>
  <li>Signals</li>
  <li>An Ending (Ascent) <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Under Stars II</li>
  <li>Drift</li>
  <li>Silver Morning</li>
  <li>Deep Blue Day</li>
  <li>Weightless</li>
  <li>Always Returning <span class="good">+</span></li>
  <li>Stars</li>
</ol>

<p>The one, VERY predictable thing you could imagine happening to Brian Eno's music... did happen. His ambient working skills were enlisted to create the background of a movie called <em>For All Mankind</em>, by National Geographic, which is made up of lengthy and static footage of space and the Apollo program - just the way Eno likes it. The movie was only released a full 6 years after the album's release, though, so <strong>Apollo</strong> can be perfectly thought as a "standalone" release, not too tightly linked with the film. And this helps show one interesting aspect of Eno's music: when it's tied with a palpable, concrete vision and purpose, it is <em>very</em> good! Eno always showed particular interest in abstract, imaginary mental images and how to create and represent them with music. But after so many noodlings (note: word used with no deprecative intent) with that kind of music, here, he still shows a lot of skill in creating music that goes together with something existant. So, yes, this is perfect soundtrack stuff.</p>

<p>This ain't a solo Brian Eno release, though. Daniel Lanois, who was already working with Eno as a producer, also shares credits with him, as does Brian's brother Roger. Of course, for the casual listener, this hardly matters. But hey, we should give people the credit they're due, right? So there they are. Anyway, the album. It's still "ambient", though like I meant to say before, it is "applied ambient music". <em>All</em> songs share a space theme, and not in just one way. But the overall sound of many tracks here, you can make it up all in your mind without even listening to the album: vague, synthesized hums and chords; the occasional strange, vague sound; mysterious, somewhat disorienting bass sounds; sense of emptiness and wonder; and so on. There isn't really a formula here, but the entire side one is more or less like that. The two versions of 'Under Stars' (they're pretty much the same thing played in different speeds) have a complex synthesized texture and something of a bass guitar riff underneath it. 'The Secret Place' and 'Matta' go towards the creepier side of it, the former with ghostly whispery and whistly sounds, and the latter with slight dissonante and a strange, grumbling, scraping noise that pops up on occasion. 'Drift' and 'Signals' are more positive, the former with the usual humming synths forming little melodies, and the latter with a higher pitched sound that's reminiscent of those Farfisa organ soundscapes from the late 60's - in short, something of a friendlier Pink Floyd experiment. The one stand-out here is 'An Ending', which sounds like a snippet of an angelic choir producing beautifully vague looping melodies and tunes. It's on the more "musical" and less "sonic" trend of ambient that Eno dabbled with on tracks like '2/2' from <strong>Music For Airports</strong>. And I tell you, it's <em>beautiful</em>, and even surprising, considering how Eno constantly refers to himself as a non-musician.</p>

<p>Side two expands the horizons of possibilities with the inclusion of actual guitar playing, courtesy of Daniel Lanois, and snatches of <em>country western</em>. Yup, that wasn't a typo. It is loudly stated already from the first track on the side, 'Silver Morning', a beautiful steel guitar instrumental by Lanois with a sparkly, spacious sound. On the next tracks, the guitar and the synth ambient trends are combined, and the results are surprisingly great. 'Deep Blue Day' is more or less famous (notably accompanying a striking scene in <em>Trainspotting</em>), and is also notable here for having a light, subtle but constant beat. Over it, Lanois plucks some really gentle and beautiful themes (heck, the main theme is pretty much only three different notes), while the Eno brothers (I assume) produce synth effects that sound very, very much like a Mellotron (awesome, huh?). It's an odd combination, but in a VERY positive way. 'Weightless' is even more gentle and soothing, with a more... um, crystalline electric piano sound and the ever present steel guitar. 'Always Returning' is my favourite track here, though, with a murderously simple main theme, and the finished product is brilliant beyond words, kind of reminiscent of <strong>Another Green World</strong>. There's soothing piano and soft backwards notes, and a kind of beauty that is almost unexplainable.</p>

<p>The album ends with a return to the 'Under Stars' theme, though this time longer and more stripped down. Yeah, as if there was any other way in which the album could end. The main thing here is, the album turned out <em>exactly</em> the way it should, and I just can't imagine any better way of doing it. Somehow, everything sounds right. Everything. And even though the country western influence is very peculiar, it works so well that you could hardly tell otherwise. Oh, yes, I lie: there's a lot of controversy on that. But I like it a lot. The album is nearly perfect, and this is a landmark in ambient music. Get it at least to know what the whole thing is all about.</p>

<p class="ratingHeader">
  Rating:
</p>

<p class="rating">
  <big>Fun factor:  <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Hard to give a "fun factor" rating here.<br />
  <big>Resonance:   <strong>13/15</strong></big> - <em>This</em> makes more sense. Ah, yes, it works so well.<br />
  <big>Originality: <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Could hardly be any better.<br />
  <big>Richness:    <strong>13/15</strong></big> - Very, very well crafted atmospheres (and soundtracks).<br />
  <big>Solidness:   <strong>12/15</strong></big> - Ain't quite immaculate, but the flow is very good.
</p>

<p class="ratingFinale">
  Total: 8.8 = <strong class="grade">9</strong>
</p>

<p>Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? <a href="mailto:sirmustapha@gmail.com">Mail me</a>!</p>

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